The Jewel Kats Special Needs Award

The Jewel Kats Special Needs Award is granted to a children’s author for a picture book or chapter book about a child overcoming a mental or physical disability. The recommended audience is pre-kindergarten to age 12, but Young Adult novels may be considered.

Jewel Kats

ReaderViews will be administering the award. Interested authors and their publishers can submit books directly to ReaderViews for their judges to evaluate.

About Jewel’s unique outlook, LHP publisher Victor R. Volkman remarked, “One of Jewel’s core beliefs was that all girls can be Princesses. It doesn’t matter what shape you are, what you can or can’t do, what color your skin is, or how well you speak, every girl was a Princess in her eyes.”

Guidelines for Contestants

The recommended audience is pre-kindergarten to age 12, but Young Adult novels may be considered.

Books can be published any time in the previous 24 months before contest date closes.

Contest opens April 1st, 2018.

Authors are encouraged to submit their entries as soon as possible but postmarked no later than December 31, 2018.

About Jewel Kats

Canadian author and model Jewel Kats became physically challenged after suffering an accident at the age of nine. The resulting disability restricted her mobility, confining her to a wheelchair and a walking aid. Yet, her talent and creativity as an author flourished, leading her to become a popular author of empowering and educational children’s books. Her well-known books includeCinderella’s Magical Wheelchair,DitzAbled Princess, The Princess and the Ruby,Jenny and Her Dog Both Fight Cancer, and others. Jewel won multiple awards for her work and was featured a number of times in popular media. She passed away in January 2016 at the age of 37. Her legacy continues to inspire and empower children with special needs and their families. Visithttp://www.jewelkats.com/to learn more about Jewel Kats and her work.